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Turning Deceit Into Defeat

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Turning Deceit Into Defeat "I knew Ajay before joining films"........Page 4 SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2015 INTERNET EDITION : www.dailyexcelsior.com/magazine 'Even mud used to cushion my feet'.......Page 3 TURNING DECEIT INTO DEFEAT Col J P Singh, Retd OUR BRAVE SOLDIERS At the closing end of 20th century, a geo-political crisis erupted in the Captain Vikram Batra was serving with 13 JAK RIF during Opera- Himalayan borderlands of Northern India with surreptitious infiltration tion Vijay. On 07 July 1999 he volunteered to assault and recapture the of Pakistani soldiers in Kargil heights which subsequently led to 4th area north of Point 4875 from where an enemy local- Indo-Pak war. It was the last armed conflict of 20th century fought ity was interfering actively in the operations of 13 between historically inimical neighbours, India and Pakistan, on the JAK RIF. The task involved an assault along a trans-himalayan plateau from May to July 1999.The genesis of Kargil narrow ridge with sharp cuttings on either side Conflict lie in Pakistan's repeated failure to annex Kashmir. Three con- to clear a heavily fortified feature. ventional wars, 10 years of failed J&K militancy and 15 years of losing Personally leading the assault Captain Batra battle of Siachen had actually driven Pak to utter despair. Therefore she engaged the enemy in a fierce hand to hand fight resorted to surreptitious ingress of Pakistani soldiers across the LoC in and killed five enemy soldiers at point blank Ladakh in May 1999. It took the country entirely by surprise and gen- range. During the assault he sustained grievous injuries. Despite his injuries, Captain Batra crawled erated grave misgivings about the failure of defence apparatus and seri- towards the next enemy sangar and continued to hurl grenades and fire ous concerns about army's preparedness. Pakistan called it 'Kargil Ki from his AK 47. Despite stiff resistance from the enemy this gallant offi- Jung' whereas Indian Army named it 'Op Vijay'. cer refused to yield ground. He was focused on only one direction of Kargil was part of Baltistan District of princely state of J&K. 1947 Indo-Pak war movement and that was forward. He rallied his men, pressed home the bisected Baltistan giving kargil to india. Kargil town lies at the junction of Shingu and attack and finally succeeded in achieving what had seemed to be a mil- Suru rivers on 205 kms long NH 1D which connects Leh to Srinagar. Many Army itarily impossible task. Inspired by this extraordinary display of fear- posts on the LoC in Ladakh sector, which were 16 to 18 thousand ft high, used to be vacated during the winters when the temperature fell to minus 40 and re-occu- lessness and raw courage by their leader the troops fell upon the ene- pied in summers. It was a routine practice for both sides to abandon such posts. In my with a vengeance and vanquished him. April-May 1999, Pakistan infiltrated Special Operations Groups (SOG) troops, North- Earlier, on 20 June 1999, Captain Vikram Batra then leading 'D' ern Light Infantry(NLI) regiments, mercenaries with Afghani and Sudanese terror- Company had displayed sterling leadership qualities by leading from ists under operational command of Maj Gen Ashraf Rashid to covertly occupy Indi- an vacated positions from Dras to Chorbat La and Turtok, South of Siachen, 160 the front to physically assault enemy positions on point 5140 in the kms in stretch. On 3rd May 1999, a grazier informed the army about intrusion in Drass sub-sector. He had launched a daredevil assault on the enemy, Batalik. On 5th May a patrol led by Capt Saurab Kalia was sent to verify the infor- who was well entrenched and armed to the teeth with sophisticated mation. This patrol was ambushed and all of them tortured to death. On 9th May weapons pouncing on the enemy, he had personally killed four intrud- Pak shelled Kargil Ammunition Depot which caught fire causing panic in the town. After 1971 war there has been no major confrontation except periodic clashes ers in a hand to hand fight. With victory at this feet and cries of "Bharat in Siachen. Consequent to nuclear tests by both sides in 1998, tensions heightened. Mata ki Jai" and "Durge Mata ki jai" resounding in this ears this brave To defuse tensions, Indian Premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee took a bus journey to Lahore son of India made the supreme sacrifice and wrote a new saga of courage in February 1999 and signed 'Lahore Declaration' with Nawaz Sharif. While India that will further enrich the traditions of the Indian Army. For his unpar- was making peace overtures, Pak army was covertly infiltrating in Kargil. Their objec- alleled feats of conspicuous personal gallantry and fearlessness in the tives were to severe links between Srinagar and Leh; to force vacation of Siachen by doing Siachen in Kargil and to internationalise Kashmir issue hoping to secure face of enemy, exceptional fighting spirit, exemplary junior leadership a speedy resolution. and selfless devotion to duty Captain Vikram Batra was posthumously Indian army responded promptly. Gen Krishan Pal, GOC 15 Corps flew to Kargil KARGIL VIJAY DIVAS awarded the Pram Vir Chakra, India's highest gallantry award. to assess the situation immedaitely after capture of Capt Kalai led patrol. Seeing The young officers and men supported by 3000 volunteers did a splendid job on enormous infiltration by aerial reconnaissance, he ordered immediate move of an Rifleman Sanjay Kumar volunteered to be the leading scout of the Infantry brigade and and an Arty Regiment(regt) form valley to kargil. Due to bad the ground. 527 soldiers and 7 porters of 'Tanda Tiger Force' laid down their lives. weather GOC had to return to Srianagr by road. Enroute he met and cheered the 1363 soldiers were wounded, disfigured and maimed for life. Histroy of Kargil has attacking column tasked to capture area Flat Top of Infantry and Arty regt columns for their breakneck speed to Kargil war zone. This is been written in their blood. Triumph War Cry of late Capt Vikram Batra, Param Vir Point 4875 in the Mashkoh Valley on 04 July 1999. the professionailsm of Indian army one can be proud of. Pakistani intruders carried Chakra, "Dil Mange More' thundered from the towering mountains of Kargil. It was Enemy's automatic fire from one of the sangars out direct firing on the moving columns. Undettered they moved on and reached heard in Islamabad and New Delhi. It inspired the nation which stood as one dur- ing the war. posed stiff opposition and stalled the advance. kargil the same night and were ready for action next morning. Thereafter the other With utter disregard for his personal safety in reinforcements followed. It is to the sacrifices of these young warriors, Kalias and Batras and volunteer NH 1D had come under close range of Pak intruders. Hence protection of this Dogras that this article is dedicated to, in all humility. To God goes the glory. Thank the ensuing hand to hand combat, he killed route by recapturing forward posts became priority right form the beginning. This God you sent these warriors to the Indian Army and led veterans like me also to three of the intruders and was himself seri- involved clearing Tiger Hill and Tololing in Dras. Capture of Tololing and Tiger Hill the service of the nation. Nation owes a lot to the martyrs of 'Op Vijay' because of ously injured. However, despite his injuries, the adverse climatic conditions in which they fought without raising an eyebrow and tilted the combat in India's favor. After gaining control of the hills overlooking the he continued to fight and charged on to the sec- highway, army turned towards depth positions and launched final attacks in July. turned Pak masterly deceit into her shameful defeat. World watched mesmerized as the Indian soldiers fought yard by bloody yard in the Pakistan lost 2,700 soldiers in the Kargil Jung; far higher than its casualties dur- ond sangar that had been interfering with the most inhospitable terrain at 16 to 18 thousand heights. ing the 1965 and 1971 wars. Pak Premier Nawaz Sharif has said in his memoirs attack. The enemy got stunned by this breathtaking display of raw guts Mountains are said to eat troops. Kargil is a recent exapmle of testing High Alti- "Ghadaar Kaun? Nawaz Sharif Ki Kahani, Unki Zubani", that the casualties suffered and fled from the scene, leaving behind one UMG. Rifleman Sanjay tude Warfare. Besides intelligence failure there were shortages in manpower and were so extensive that an entire brigade of NLI was wiped out. Benazir Bhutto called Kumar picked up the weapon left behind by the fleeing Pakistani sol- equipment. When asked about shortages, Gen Malik, Army Chief said, "yes, we it "Pakistan's greatest blunder" and ex military and ISI officers lambasted the war have shortages. But we will fight with whatever we have". Shortages in manpower as "a disaster bigger than the East Pakistan tragedy". diers and shot them dead. Although by this time, Rifleman Sanjay was made up to some extent by raising six Porter Coys of civilian volunteers. Each campaign leaves certain lessons for the posterity and perspectives for Kumar was bleeding profusely from his wounds, he refused to be evac- The fighting ceased on 26th July 1999. The day has since been christened as future. Kargil war is no exception. In the age of L-e-T and ISIS, all pluralistic democ- uated. This super human display of courage by Rifleman Sanjay Kumar Kargil Vijay Diwas and is celebrated with great fest and fervor more-so because of racies face threats from an ideology which is hostile to other religions, freedom, steeled the resolve of his comrades and motivated them to wrest Area the price Pakistan paid for the deceit.
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